Peugeot set for Dakar challenge anew

Carlos Sainz wins Stage 4 of the Dakar Rally

After their extraordinary adventure in 2013, which saw them smash the record for the celebrated Pikes Peak Hill Climb, Peugeot Sport, Red Bull and Total have again joined forces for another exacting yet equally exciting challenge: the Dakar.

The team has recruited

Carlos Sainz and Cyril Despres to take on the 10,000 kilometers of the world’s longest and toughest cross-country rally 25 years after the French car manufacturer last contested the event.

Last June’s memorable new record of 8 minutes and 13.878 seconds for the ascent on Pikes Peak confirmed that Peugeot Sport had lost none of its taste for motorsport.

After emphatically showcasing its expertise on the celebrated climb’s steep and demanding course, the team could easily have contented itself with last year’s one-off foray.

However, its passion for competition needed feeding with further stimulating new challenges, and the next one will be the infamous Dakar.

Following last year’s intense adventure in the lofty mountains of Colorado in the United States, Peugeot Sport, Red Bull and Total have decided to set their sights on the wide open spaces of South America which provide the backdrop for the toughest cross-country rally of them all.

Inevitably, the decision recalls a particularly successful period in the history of the French team which made an indelible mark on the Dakar by winning the legendary competition for four years—running from 1987 until 1990, first with the 205 T16 Grand Raid, then with the equally iconic 405 T16 Grand Raid.

Next challenge

In between times, the Dakar has traded the dunes of northwest Africa for the tracks and trails of Latin America, which are every bit as punishing for competitors and their machines.

It is here, a quarter of a century after its last participation, that Team Peugeot Total will take on its next challenge with a new car, the 2008 DKR.

After last June’s 20-km asphalt sprint, it’s a two-week 10,000-km marathon that will put Peugeot Sport’s all-round skills to the test in January 2015.

The Dakar will naturally be the chief focus of Peugeot’s new, multiyear program, which will also include a certain number of other events in order to help it prepare for the annual South American marathon.

The team’s driver lineup stars the 2010 Dakar victor Carlos Sainz, who brings his extensive experience and car development skills to the table, as well as the event’s five-time winner on two wheels, Cyril Despres, who has chosen Peugeot to kick off a new career on four wheels.

Both drivers are eager to discover their car, which was concocted by the same team that was behind the development of the 208 T16 Pikes Peak. More information about the car will be revealed at the Beijing Motor Show on April 20, 2015.

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